The Secret Life of Radovan Karadzic

The Secret Life of Radovan Karadzic, airs ahead of the imminent resumption of Karadzic's trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Rageh Omaar travels to Serbia and Bosnia to investigate the decade-long period the former president of the Republika Srpska spent in hiding and examines his legacy in present-day Bosnia and beyond.

During a decade on the run, he had cultivated a long white beard and called himself Dragan Dabic. Mr Karadzic, 63, lived in a "very convincing" way using false papers. He even gave public lectures and was a regular health magazine contributor.

Mr Karadzic is reported to have frequently played the Serbian gusle - a one-stringed instrument - in the bar, while singing songs. Masquerading as an expert in human quantum energy, the fugitive was so confident in his disguise he even had his own website, and would give out business cards during alternative medicine lectures.

He reportedly had a girlfriend - a brunette in her forties known only as Mila - who he said was an associate at his alternative medicine practice.

A neighbour described Mr Karadzic as a polite man who always said hello. Billed as Dabic, Spiritual Explorer, Mr Karadzic gave lectures comparing meditation and silent techniques practised by Orthodox monks. He spoke in Belgrade, and also in the town of Smederevo, east of the capital. Mila frequently accompanied him on speaking engagements.

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82 Comments / User Reviews

Kim Bruce

This doc. is obviously biased in favour of the Muslims. Tell the other side of the story. How the Saudis financed a war against Christians. How al Qaeda worked insidiously, killing and raping innocent women and children.
This war would not have happened had the jihadist Muslims stayed out.

racku

this is muslim sponsored this movie full of mistakes and logical erors.....how can Serbs create new nation in 90s when they existed for centuries before and how can a muslim (now bosnian) be a nation when all of them were Serbs once .....real truth is muslims and croats who never had theirs independance backed up with dark forces (usa,saudi,uk,german) decided to split up yugoslavia by communist titos borders so they get serbian territory and weaken yugoslav influence in eu and middle east . so they don it and now have to prove the story in court.....but every body who saw any ICTY trial know it is rigged and serbs who they couldnt find guilt where slain....

dmxi

my serbian girlfriend agrees with you ,kim .she was appalled by the distorted media coverage we got dished in the western media which was also biased.tito prophecized that external powers would try to divide the slavic unity from within, by any means necessary .

Jasmin Beši?

You have to face the facts that Miloševi?, Kara?i? and Mladi? were mass murderers! It all began when Slovenia declared independence. First war in Slovenia, and than they attacked Croatia (Vukovar). War was raging from 91 until 95, including Bosnia as well. I have experienced it by the first hand. It isn´t about, which side are you on. It is about respecting others, as humans beings and not by their nationality!

dmxi

''You have to face the facts that Miloševi?, Kara?i? and Mladi? were mass murderers!''
...so were lincoln,attila,stalin,putin,osman,hitler,nixon,henry VIII,vlad the impaler,nero,alexander the great,churchill,dahmer,eisenhower,mao tse tung,jack the ripper,pol pot,macey,moses,nato,kissinger,cecil rhodes,the asteroid that made the dinosaurs extinct,hiv,the black pest,genetic enhanced food(monsanto),every darn pope to this day,ceasar & last but not least everyone who lives in bliss & gives their tv more attention .

Petar Vitanovich

God Bless Radovan Karadzic! He will always be remembered as a Serbian hero. This man fought for the freedoms of millions of oppressed Serbs throughout the region. What NOBODY EVER BRINGS UP, is the thousands of woman and children being raped and killed by the croats and muslims. All we hear is how bad the "Serbs" were. Maybe, just maybe, this has to do with the fact that Serbia was declared an enemy of America and "THE ALL MIGHTY WEST". So what did you do? You watched the T.V. and listened to them brainwashing you, with false reports. What about the fake concentration camp that CNN played and told the world was real, are we talking about that right now? What about the weapons that Germany was smuggling into Croatia, to help fund genocide. What about the independent Spanish medical examiners that the UN hired to examine, "mass graves", only for him to write out in his report that NO MASS GRAVES WERE EVER FOUND, AND THE ONES THAT WERE, ALL WERE MEN OF FIGHTING AGE, WITH WOUNDS SHOWN TO COME FROM BATTLE IE. A GUNSHOT TO THE STOMACH OR CHEST. Some of you might not understand where this passion comes from in me or other Serbs, but you guys never stop and think, "What would it be like for me, if my whole life, people were wrongfully accusing me of being a rapist, and murderer." Stop and think about that one day. Because when I was in elementary school in 1999, American kids who knew nothing about what Serbia is, or it's rich history, would beat the **** out of me, groups of them. And when I wanted to wear my Serbian shirt, they would tell me I wasn't allowed to, because it expressed negative things, all while the Albanian students, where allowed to wear their ethnic clothing. This is a disgrace. If people only knew these men, they would realize that they all support individual freedoms, and are more politically like someone like a Dr. Ron Paul. But the media, just like Ron Paul, has completely filled American's heads with bull**** to the point they can't "unlearn" some of the stuff. This happened in WW2 as well, with General Draza Mihajlovic, who's Chetniks, rescued 500 Allied Airmen over Yugoslavia. He was fighting the Fascist Nazi's and Italians on one front, all while fighting the Communist Partizan's on the other front. He was also awarded the Legion of Merit by Harry S. Truman. Well none of these heroic actions stopped kids from rewriting history on Wiki to start calling him a Nazi sympathizer. Seriously, a Nazi Sympathizer??? It is true that he had an argument with one of his senior generals, his name was Milan something, who fled, and joined the Nazi's, but Chetniks are faaaarrrr from being Nazi. Just ask the allied airmen who fought alongside Draza, if he was a Nazi, or why would Harry S. Truman give a freaking Nazi sympathizer the LEGION OF MERIT. People these are facts. I highly suggest reading the book "The Forgotten 500", which was wrote by one of the American airmen who were rescued during the Halyard Mission, which was led by American O.S.S. and the Serbian Chetniks under Gen. Draza. That will show you how easy it is to bull**** history, and call it something "new" today. Just remember that, and VOTE RON PAUL 2012!!! Sorry I had to throw that in their.

Petar Vitanovich

your dumb, and have already been brainwashed by western media

lex lexich

dark forces? right! poor lil' serbs, ripped of Bosnia, Montenegro, Kosovo... what is next, Vojvodina? haha, you could see it coming!

lex lexich

this war would not have happened had the european banking system stayed out!!!

Sieben Stern

"if we don't get rid of the hate there is no future"

good.

they hate each other because of religion. get rid of religion. problem solved. it's all BS anyway.

zeripopullit

The Serbs need to face the past and accept their wrongdoings. It's for their own good. It is so very clear that their nation (lead by Milosevic) has started four wars in ex-Yugoslavia. As long as they escape facing the past, they are DOOMED!
The reason why the Germans are the most powerful nation in Europe today is that they have accepted the wrongdoings of Hitler and the Nazis, and have acknowledged responsibility and guilt. That was their only starting point for moving on.
It is so unreal and inhuman when the Serbs try to find excuses for the Srebrenica Massacre and the deportation of nearly 1 million Kosovo Albanians.
So unreal and inhuman.

P.S.
And please stop with this "global media brainwash" BS! It's so childish and annoying.

zeripopullit

Anger is an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured.

Mark Twain

fonbindelhofas

pure hate in here:(((

Gary Ward

i found this difficult to masturbate to.

JezusVanNazareth

LOL @ Gary Ward.....yes...I myself found the beard to be a little off-putting, but then again, a REAL masturbator fights through the pain! You sir, have not tried hard enough. Now start jackin again!

Dean Edgington

After watching this it seems Eastern media is also slanted. Don't get me wrong, I’m not sticking up for war criminals but bad reporting is what it is. I agree with dmxi above, they have all murdered, always have and probably always will. Why haven’t some of those people in dmxi's list been indicted? To use my favourite phrase from the tv series The Wire, "It's all in the game".

dmxi

that was just a 'short ' list.....there are plenty of 'em missing .

Hyper Roller

AlJazeera, same one who glorified (and still does) Osama and 9/11 makes this propaganda movies for pore ignorant people who believes in everything what "spin doctors" tell them. AND SAME THAT PORE MUSLIMS ARE CELEBRATING 9/11 so go love n' hug them...

Dzo Kukrika

Please don't comment what you have no idea about.

yahoo-JD6LLY6RLA43OA6P2YZAYNIYCM

Just when I thought I can trust this web site and then this documentary. So checking and double checking of info, as Assange would probably say, isn't virtue here.

Dzo Kukrika

So what about 1+ million of Serb refugees? What about the fact that no Serbs or Croats want to live in Muslim Bosnia? Is all that because too much respect from the Muslims? What about places like Krajina or Kosovo where Serbs lived for centuries? Double standards? What about Bosnia, Serbs do not want to live in a Muslim dominating country - should they leave too? Double standards? You have some smart respectful ideas? Lets say we go back to 1990 and there was no war in Bosnia, what do you think would happen - would we have a democratic system and Muslims as majority would always win? What do you honestly think it would happen in such Bosnia in 50 or 100 years? Be honest and respectful and say what you really think? YOu don't want to accept the truth, however bad it is - Bosnia could not live as a separate multicultural country. It never was. Balkan has too much bloody history for respectful coexistence of the 3 religions in the same country.

zeripopullit

I have no idea about?!
You have just proved my point.
Thank you!

xkepax

This is one of the pure propaganda films I have ever witnessed to exist. Classic one-side story, and the need for a british guy to explain things he has no clues about... really really sad... There is much better 11hour doc here, something that actually can put the right perspective to the whole war.. But this one? Pure garbage.

PhilippinoBob

I am a Canadian, therefore not biased. This is what I heard from regular folks on my trip to Slovenia and Croatia in January 2012.
In late 1980's, early 1990's, the West made BIG promises to ex-Yougoslav republics.
This is the result of those promises:
A few prominent political leaders from the separatists got FABULOUSLY rich in the process while the rest got shafted.
Ask any Slovenian or Croatian today what they think about it today.
Was it better under Tito or even Milosevic, or is it better now under their present CORRUPT governments, youth unemployment, crime, lack of respect at any level, general resentment, bloated national debts etc?
Just ask them next time you go to visit their countries. I did!

yahoo-JD6LLY6RLA43OA6P2YZAYNIYCM

I just got the point of this web site. It's more like "here it is folks - take what you want" :-D. Vlatko, I have one favour - can you put a comment somewhere on the top of this site like "don't believe everything that is presented here because I really like just to collect".

Guest

Go to Home (at the top) and then read Essence (at the bottom).
It's there.

You express dissatisfaction about the posting of this doc, but not a word why and how?
You have an opportunity to raise awareness if you feel you know something we don't know... share!
az

John Christopher McDonald

ESSENCE
We always have to keep in mind that a Documentary, after all, can tell lies and it can tell lies because it lays claim to a form of veracity which fiction doesn’t. Some of the documentaries are made just to discredit some particular person, party, organization, system etc, but most of them here on TDF are non biased, without prejudice and worth watching.

GKR

I may be biased. But being biased with the benefit of information, facts and not Al Jazeera type "black and white" pop analysis of such a complicated period in not just world history but also Balkan history is far safer and honourable.

The "Srebenisa massacre" at the market was known to have come from shots being fired from the Muslim controlled sector of the city under the cover of European peace keepers forces at the time. One report put the French under control of that area. Lebanese militants and other "volunteers" from Islamic countries had already infiltrated the area. Dutch and French intelligence at the time confirmed it. The US became concerned that whilst they were creating anti Islamic forces worldwide they would have to make an alliance with Islamists in this area seeking to set up an Islamic state in the Balkans. It was a deliberate escalation and provocation of a war to demonise one side. Much like what the British and Americans did in their colonies. The US in Viet Nam with My Lai blaming it first on the communists till they were caught out, the British in Malaya and Africa till they too were caught out.

As the Germans had designs on the Croatian ports of the warm waters of the Adriatic, they supported the war in its ugliest forms as the Nazis have always done against Slavs and encouraged a "dirty campaign" with the help of their "Advisors' and the Americans and other western Europeans in the area at the time.

Lets not forget it s was not long before this campaign the Americans and Germans helped overthrow Caucescu and use the most undemocratic means of brining him down, through a coup and murder. They were testing the water for worse things to come.

The Balkans conflict is not over by a long shot yet with the "show trials" of Radovan Karazic and Slobodan Milosevic. Not at all over.

The Germans are invading Europe through financial warfare supported by the big industrial complexes of the US, Britain France and other little compliant client states of the bigger states of the west.

What we are seeking in Egypt, Syria and other middle eastern states especially the blatant invasion and plunder of Iraq is evidence that these little Balkan clinets of the west will one day again seek a Tito to protect them from the ravages of new Nazism this time a Nazism with US support.

This is a primary one interpretation of the war. A bit like "How I won the war" but more tragic for the sheer convenient biases and one sided populist myths it creates about history. Very recent history in our time.

yahoo-JD6LLY6RLA43OA6P2YZAYNIYCM

"It stands as a largest mass murder since the II World War"... this is how it begins. I was waiting for the part where it will say "facts are", or "the number of killed and nationality of killed is cleared", or "he is guilty and that is the fact"... you know something that is more then "it stands". Why was I waiting for that, you might ask? Because after more then a decade there is no consensus about what happened in Srebrenica and we're still waiting . How is that possible?! And I'm speaking here about history version that Europe or USA or Asia would agree with.
This documentary is so one sided that I actually feel hurt rather than informed. It is causing emotions without any credibility. Documentary uses crime movie approach, going for emotions rather then to express facts, documents, objective opinions.

yahoo-JD6LLY6RLA43OA6P2YZAYNIYCM

Thank you.

Tsrnoghorats

Oh you poor Serbs... can I get you a tissue?

It's funny how typical the Serbian perspective is in every debate, in almost any forum and it can be summarized as follows:

- But look at what they did to us...

Don't you fools realize that you need to stop laying the blame on others and instead face the truth? You were the agitators and instigators of this war, the blood is on your hands. You will gain much more respect and credibility by collectively acknowledging the horrendous crimes you committed.

Republika Srpska was doomed in its cradle, it continues to exist because it acts as a power balance between the three nations of Bosnia & Herzegovina. It is a temporary solution which was drawn up in the Dayton peace accord and will not last, it was an illusion then, as it is now.

You need to understand what really happened in Yugoslavia almost 30 years ago.The great, all-knowing intellectuals of Serbia were fooled into believing that the west would actually allow them to form a greater Serbia by parceling up former Yugoslavia between themselves and the Croats. The Serbian academy of sciences and arts issued a memorandum which clearly displayed your nationalistic stance. Seeing as Islam, for obvious reasons is unpopular in Europe, the majority of your intelligentsia actually believed that now was the time for great nation building. Your plan for Bosnia & Herzegovina was clear:

Exterminate one third of the Muslim population.
Expel one third of the population.
Enslave the remaining third, now a minority.

What was actually happening at this time, on a global scale was the climax of the cold-war which Yugoslavia played a part in. It simply was not in the interest of the western world for Yugoslavia to exist. The iron curtain rusted and disintegrated almost over night and in order for the anglo-saxon hegemony to proclaim victory over communism, Yugoslavia as a state had to be dismantled. To the western "democracies", eastern Europe was ripe for the taking. Just look at the new capitalist markets all over eastern Europe, analyze what really happened and judge for yourself.

The reality is that the Serbian elite merely acted as puppets and perpetrators of a master plan which really wasn't their own. The Serbian people swallowed the bait and you went on a four year crusade of pillaging, raping and killing. All this was done with vigorous nationalistic fervor, after all, now was the time to get your revenge after spending some 500 years under the Ottoman boot and scimitar.

Apologize, admit your guilt, and maybe, just maybe that can start a process of reconciliation.

Remember the ancient Roman saying:

Divide et impera

This age old tactic was successfully applied in former Yugoslavia during the breakup and ensuing war in the 1990's.

The only way for the Balkan peoples to prosper and regain control of their land is to unite once again and expel the "democratic western elements" who proclaim themselves to be our allies and partners, while controlling our banking and commerce.

That is the truth... "Joe"...

This is also a reply to Mr AmeriSerb Petar Vitanovic(h)

azo

if you want to face a truth story of bosnian war come to sarajevo and bosnia and see it for yourself. i cannont understand people who support any kind of murder, ethnical cleansing, torture. those are psychopath, no metter which side. the serbian parties are trying declare bosnian muslims as fanatics and therorist, but click on any picture of sarajevos streets or any other bosnian town, u will see girls half naked :D, and a normal europian culture habits.

the man accused for firing on american ambassy in sarajevo, actually is a serbian citizen.

otherwise serbs suport fashistic groups like chetniks, once that fought together with nazis to exterminate jews in WW2.

@dmxi
you disagree with a fact that hitler was a massmurder? you are too much influenced by your girlfriend...

azo

i come from bosnia, and who ever wants to find out a truth about bosnian war, come to bosnia and see it for yourself. this documentary is not a one side story, you cannot make a non biased story about genocide, while theres always a victim and agressor. no one can deny a fact about serbian agression and a genocide, it happend and we suffer it.

people in bosnia, including a lot of croats, serbs, muslims, jews and others want to live together.true bosnian people respect every religion, nation, habit.above all we enjoy our diversity.

government of republic of srpska is making everything to stop refugee people from eastern bosnia(todays republic of srpska) to come back on their land, just to legalise a genocide and ethical cleansing. even today the paid serb groups stone a mosques and write a nasty writing on it, to intimidate returnee on their proper in republic of srpska. u can check it on web.

my country is devastated. they crashed and burned, bombed everything. in sarajevo around 2000 kids lost their life. even 20 years after, not much changed.

serbs are tring to demonstrate the bosnian muslims are therorists. well, i repeat, click on any photo of sarajevos streets, and you will see just a regular europian culture and habits.
the theroristic attack on american embassy in sarajevo is comitted by the serbian citizen.while serbs support a chetniks, fashistic group that fought together with nazies in cleansing jews in WW2.

we, bosnian people only want to live our lifes in peace, we belong to europe, our perspective is in UE.

dmxi

no,i didn't & do not disagree that hitler was a mass murderer,in fact i named the serbian leaders in line with other historical figures that have blood in their curriculum vitae !the victors write history books was the point made.only a mandela (nelson,that is!) approach will bring peace to the region & that takes time !

Jack1952

"It stands as a largest mass murder IN EUROPE since the II World War" is how it began. It seems it is easy to sensationalize any statement.

Jack1952

If the west is only interested in markets what difference does it make if Yugoslavia is one country or many? I would think that dealing with many governments instead of one would only complicate trade. EU recognized this and was the impetus for the common market. Bad marketing decisions I would think.

Jack1952

Yes, you're biased alright.

Jack1952

"but not least everyone who lives in bliss & gives their tv more attention" I think that would cover just about everybody.

Tsrnoghorats

Jack, let me try to explain my reasoning properly.

You see, post WW2 Yugoslavia differed a lot from the rest of the communist satellite states in Eastern Europe at the time. It was no lapdog to Josef Stalin, it made its on foreign, domestic and economic policy.

It was at the forefront of the Non-aligned movement, its people enjoyed a much better standard of living than its eastern neighbors.
This was all achieved through some very shrewd and charismatic leadership under the late Josip Broz Tito's government. In truth, Yugoslavia was a bulwark of sorts, in between NATO and the Warsaw pact.
This allowed it to play both sides of the fence, on one hand taking Marshall Plan money, and on the other using Soviet military patents for the production of tanks and firearms.
At the end of the 60's, Yugoslavia was the fourth largest military power in Europe, a major exporter of arms to Africa, the middle east and beyond. It had a strong navy, sufficient air force and an army that could muster 8 million men in the event of a conflict, which is no easy feat. It was a threat and a thorn in the side of Western Europe, like some cocky little kid who isn't afraid to mess with the big boys and stir things up a bit.

Yugoslavia could have easily made the transition from a communist state to something that resembles the Scandinavian welfare states of its time. It's economy was not entirely planned, private enterprises existed, it cooperated with Western economies, Slovenia especially. Just look at how easily it made the transition.

Instead, the US and Europe chose to actively support separatist elements. Why? They wanted economic control, and in order to get it, Yugoslavia had to go. It's all about resources.

The European common market is a single market on paper, in reality it is divided in several strata, just look at Greece and what's happening over there now for instance. Look at Spain, Portugal, Ireland. All countries who's governments were stimulated to take German loans. In return Greece got submarines and eurofighter typhoons so that it could bang its chest in an affront to Turkey through regular military exercises. This all stimulated the German economy to a great extent. To clarify, the west has no problem incorporating eastern and southern states, as long as their economies are focused on the production of vegetables and fruit. Technology is something that it doesn't willfully share. This is all oversimplified but I think that you will understand my reasoning. The majority of all banks in the Balkans are foreign owned, you can probably guess which country that owns most of them. Prime lending rates are considerably higher than in the west.

Just look at how the war played out, without western involvement, Serbian forces would have crushed all opposition. They held the greatest stockpiles of arms, their were literally armed to the teeth, just waiting to unleash their savage, bloodthirsty campaign. During the siege of Sarajevo, Serbian planes could have used tactic air bombing and that would have meant the end of all opposition. Instead, someone intervened and forbade the use of fighter planes. Guess who? When the Muslim forces were headed for Banja Luka, the Serbians were preparing a mass exodus, once again they were halted. Guess by whom? It was all a tactic to weaken and and divide up Yugoslavia and turn it into chaos. At the end of the war, the US dictated the terms for a new peace accord, once again creating a situation which will lead to further tensions in the future.

The word of the day is divide and conquer.

Dzo Kukrika

azo, do you come from Bosnia, or you still live there :) im not sure in what Bosnia you live when you give these facts that are totally opposite from the truth. 99% Serbs and Croats DO NOT want to live with Muslims, for obvious reasons. they do not want to live in a country where there is a mosque on every corner and where kids have to study kuran in school. the attacker on american embassy was a Muslim from sandjak which is the next in line to separate from Serbia. the sandjak mulsims are know to be very radical, the mulsim bandits from sandjak were freely operating during the bosnian war in bosnia, there were very extreme something like Talibans, EVERYBODY knows that. my parents were true Yugoslav people who did not want to choose side in the war but sandjak Muslim Talibans came one day to their apartment and scare the **** out of them. after a month or so they left Bosnia forever. don't give me that shit about Bosnian people being so nice, they had numerous concentration camps and were doing exactly the same as Serbs maybe on a smaller scale because this time Serbs were prepared not to let them to take over everything. official numbers from the Bosnian war show 66K Muslims, 23K Serbs and 8K Croats killed, most of them men. and these are biased UN numbers after all the bs and lies during that war and all the exaggerated numbers for the propaganda reasons that were circling at that time. it was a pure civil war where whoever could killed the other side. now, Sarajevo is 99% Muslim and that was your goal from the beginning- all that bs about some other people wanted to live there is pure propaganda, sucking up to the world as you did during the war as part of Goebbels propaganda that was led by US. So please leave the Croats and Serbs to live separately from you once forever lets finish this story. Why do you want to force people from Republika Srpska to live in Bosnia when they DO NOT want to. Let's do a referendum to prove that 100% people will vote against living in Bosnia - same in Croat's part of the Bosnia. It's a simple as that!

“The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.”

dewflirt

I am not going to jump into the politics of this one, nor the rights and wrongs of either side. I do find the man himself fascinating though, the total change he made into his new self and back again. He must have believed his own lies otherwise how could he have lived so confidently. I wonder how far removed he felt from his other self, did he still associate with him. It's as if one man was arrested and another turned up in court. Very odd.

Mostapha Boudhis

Fact is in front of Dutch UN troops and the world press people were separated and never seen again. Fact, mass graves with recognisable bodies were found and photographed by sats and reconnaissance planes. Fact the UN recognized it criminal error. Fact Dutch military recognized their Kafkaesque obedience of UN rules. Fact Serbian perpetrators filmed aspects and other gave witness statements....

Vlatko

@Tsrnoghorats,

My hat's off to you sir. Very well explained.

Yugoslavia was too powerful player, in every aspect, to be let alone after the fall of the Berlin wall.

When I say in every aspect I mean in terms of: military, culture, standard of living, sports, music etc. All that data can be easily checked.

"Yugoslavia could have easily made the transition from a communist state to something that resembles the Scandinavian welfare states of its time."

I agree, and that was proposed just before the split (1990/1991), plus the change in the federal structure. More independence to the republics, in decision making, planning, economy, law (pretty much everything), but one military, currency, federal government and one constitution. Something similar to the US of A.

But who wants even more powerful player in their backyard. Just delude them that they actually hate each other, and install puppet officials to set them on fire. The rest is history.

Today all those republics could have easily stayed as states in one strong federation, exercising all the rights they want, and being richer and more successful than ever before.

Vlatko

@zatarra,

I agree. Several of them are fiefdoms practicing pseudo capitalism. What will happen to them is an interesting question. The only path projected for their sake is EU accession.

Slovenia made the makeover very quickly and was integrated in EU in 2004. Croatia will become official member of EU in 2013.

azo

dont manipulate with a historical facts. i come from bosnia, and still living here. i come from central bosnia, i'm muslim and i live in a croatian majority, and im studing in sarajevo. i can tell you for sure that many muslims, croats,serbs, jews and others want to live together. i dont matter for living near the church, and i cannot understand a people being disgust for living with another nations. you are mentioning 99% muslim sarajevo? well i disagree. 50% of my university theachers are serbs and croats( you can see public statistics). its true, the national composition of sarajevo changed during past twenty years, but the same thing hapened in republic of srpska. why dont you fight for the rights of expelled, murdered, tortured muslim and croatian people from banja luka, prijedor, ?eli?, gacko, nevesinje, zvornik, višegrad, srebrenica, bosanski novi, bosanski šamac, bijeljina, rogatica, bile?a, trebinje, bratunac, žepa, fo?a? do you have those kind of data?

i repeat, who ever wants to find a true about bosnian war, come and see, we dont have anything to hide, otherwise, serbs in republic of srpska have indeed (secundary not primary but secondary mass graves, army of republic of srpska killed unarmed men and boys, mass raped women, scenarios like in horor movie-burned alive people-all facts-there is material, look for it).

you say muslims force people of republic of srpska to live with them? thats so funny. you poor people of republic of srpska, bad muslims are forcing you to live together with them. dont be forced by anybody, declaire independence. its that easy. (you are aware of one truth-no one in the whole world will support and aprove genocide-the truth hurts- you are a serb, you know it!).

no lays, no frauds, no hypocraty. love and respect.

we hate nobody, bosnia is, and will stay multinational, multiethnic and pround on its diversity.

everybodys welcome!

akay88

He might just have believed his own lies, just think of how sick he was during the war, and what he had done to innocent people. A person like that is certainly not a healthy one... But, then again... living so confidently as he did, might also have other explanations. Were there any authorities involved? As we know, there are a lot of rumors abt the US promising Karadzic to be a free man if this and that.... Ever seen Harrison's Flowers? Good movie, check it out :)

dewflirt

I got the feeling, because he changed so completely, that he really was two different people. Not even sure either of him were sick. One was obviously a nasty but nasty isn't potty. The other was just an old doctor. Maybe non of that matters, he was a stones throw from a pub full of supporters so there were probably enough others around to boost his feeling of safety. Or, maybe it's just beard power, his strength was in his hair ;)

lakhotason

I think it was cognitive dissonance. His mind could not and would not process the atrocities he committed.

dewflirt

When you put it like that I suppose becoming someone else would be easy by comparison.

dmxi

maybe he wanted to redeem himself.......which is a confession to guilt in itself .

napoleon76

The biggest criminals lights are Americans! They are the source of evil! Americans have been killed 10000000 people in Iraq, Vietnam, Korea, Afghanistan .... and all the story of democracy.
Stupid American people believe in everything that he served manipulators such as criminal was Bill Clinton, Obama, ...
The main creators and financiers of bin Laden and alqaide themselves Americans! Radovan Karadzic is guilty just because he was defending his people from the slaughter of Mujahideen from Arab countries who were brought into Bosnia just Americans!
One day will you be shy because of the lies that you have tricked

Dzo Kukrika

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akay88

Hahah! Probably it was, if any, a beard power ;) But, it is obvious, that when having two identities and not even "caring" at all, there is something mentally "wrong" with the man.

dewflirt

You're right, he was sick. But he also had powers !!!! :)

akay88

Haha! The worst combination ever!

dewflirt

Sick Power, world's worst hero. Or best un-hero? :(

akay88

or world's worst un-hero?:/

Jack1952

There may well be a lot of truth to what you have written. However, no matter what the encouragement, a country does not have to take a loan.
Every week I get a credit card in the mail offering all kinds of incentives to use it. Every week my scissors cut it up and the credit card is sent to the nearest land fill. It is that simple.

Ultimately the people of the former state of Yugoslavia must take responsibility for allowing the carnage to happen. Only receptive ears accept encouragement. Deaf ears tend to ignore it and go on about their business.

Tsrnoghorats

@ Jack1952

Nowhere in my reply do I ever put the entire blame on a third party. Naturally, the perpetrators behind the crimes are to blame and they should step out and take responsibility. To put the entire blame on the people is a bit dramatic and not very well researched on your part.

With all due respect, the EU's economic policy differs somewhat from what you do with your scissors at home. It would be unwise to make such a broad comparison and I think that your intellect can muster a somewhat sharper analysis. Did Goldman Sachs have to give the Greek government a black book and also aid them in manipulating their budget? Why do hedge fund owners stand more to gain from a collapse of the Greek economy than to see it restored? It is clear to me that while the Greek government should be held responsible, it is not entirely their fault. Adam Smith spoke of a invisible hand that regulates the market, I say that the invisible hand of today dabbles in far more heinous acts and that it's intentions are nefarious and deceitful. Jack, I honestly don't want to sound demeaning, however it is clear that you are out of your depth.

As far as Yugoslavia is concerned I'll say it again. While the Western World had an impetus for taking control over the markets there, the main agenda is geopolitical. The Balkans are the key between Europe and Asia. Throughout history, countless rulers have tried to gain control over it. One of the most famous being Caesar, who when assigned the pro-consulate of Gaul, actually had his eyes set on the Balkans.

PeSO821

I grew up in Yugoslavia, now Slovenia (we had only few days of war). We wanted out of Yugoslavia and communism ourselves. We could travel to western countries and see how people live there - we wanted that lifestyle too. Life in communism was really poor (current crisis is a joke in comparison, really!). It was not only poor, it was politically corrupt - anybody talking about utopia had never lived there.

The ethnical tensions between Serbs, Croats and Bosnians were real. We could feel them in our north most republic. To blame it on west is like saying we are children incapable of our own decisions.

PeSO821

When Tito was alive people worked for an idea. They were building a better, brighter future! System was based on equality and solidarity. - which was great while it lasted.
In real life it looked like this: you had guaranteed employment and salary. And this made a lot of people very relaxed about life in general. Which was great while it lasted. But as idealism faded, more and more people started making advantage of such a system... It is not hard to predict what happened next.
As a young student I worked for a while in an socialist architectural office for in Macedonia - I was at work about 3-4 hours a day on normal shift - nobody bothered, nobody cared... Even when I got bored, they told me - "relax, what is wrong with you, cant you enjoy life?". It is hard to believe , unless you experience such a thing.

And now the West comes in to play. Why would they give us loans? With work ethics like Yugoslavia in 80s and 90s. I don't blame them. It would be like giving money for free. They wanted marked based economy, but so did we (young people with ambitions).

Communism did not collapse because of western influence - even if cold war manipulations were real, but mainly because of internal problems. It is a collapse of an Ideology.

Vlatko

@PeSO821,

I agree, foreign influence is not to be solely blamed here. Simply the people, the structure within the society was not strong enough.

Tsrnoghorats

@ vlatko, PeSO821,

Gentlemen, I think we can all agree that the system in itself was under heavy foreign influence to the extent that in the end it could not cope with the immense pressures from abroad.

Surely, there were great inequalities as we all know. These inequalities along with separatist sentiments allowed the infiltration from many foreign intelligence services. I fully agree with Vlatko that the persona cult of Josip Broz in the end lead to Yugoslavia's detriment.

The separatist elements fueled the conflict since it was in their best interest to do so. In the end I believe that it's best to follow the money trail. After all, who was to gain the most from a war?

In my mind it is clear that Germany was the major player behind all of it. Why?

They have always tried to colonize the Balkans in one way or the other in modern times. Before WWI it was the Habsburg Empire, during WWII it was Nazi Germany. In 1989 the Berlin wall fell, and with it arose a new emboldened Germany, ready to take the stage as a major player in the global political arena. It could basically dump all their old automobiles and old technology in the Balkans.
How common is not the sight of an old Volkswagen Golf for instance. These cars should have all been scrapped, instead they were dumped on the new post war market. Look at the so called weapons embargo. East German stockpiles of arms were massively smuggled into Croatia, some with the aid of Hungary and some shipped directly to Croatian ports. What was uncovering was the setting of a carefully planned war where the Serbs, Croats and Bosnian armies were taking direct orders from Nato officials. The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was an internationally recognized state by the UN, how this institution later went on to simply accept the independence of seceding republics is beyond me.

I must say that I disagree with PeSO821, don't worry, I'm not going to call you out as a traitor of the proletariat or anything as such. I agree with you that people did abuse the system, especially after the death of Tito. But those very loans which were given to Yugoslavia were not loans of solidarity, instead they were part of a tactic of undermining the economy and bringing it to its knees. After all, was it not for the calling in of these loans that Yugoslavia was thrown into hyperinflation in the early 90's? I must say however, that I understand your criticism of the system. It is not fair that a mini republic such as Slovenia should have all of its GDP funneled to Belgrade when it was nearly equal to that of the whole republic of Serbia. Belgrade (Serbs) did take advantage of this to a great extent. Perhaps they were great fans of Dire Straits and in particular the song "Money for nothing", I don't know.. if it wasn't for the illusion of a greater Serbia, things could have ended differently.

Nele55

"illusion of greater Serbia"?!?!?!? People still buy into this nonsense?
How's that "illusion of greater Serbia" when you have Slovenia followed by Croatia, suddenly proclaim independence (which was against the constitution) backed by Vatican, Germany etc.(all aimed at breaking up Yugoslavia), and then you have Serbia trying to stop break up of Yugoslavia.
Things could have NOT ended differently regardless of whether somebody wanted greater Serbia, Croatia etc. (btw,who wouldnt want to expand their borders anyways). SSSR broke up and guess which country was next. Yes, SSSR's western most ally, communist Yugoslavia. The break up of Yugoslavia was planed, it was in the interest of the West, just as it was orchestrated by the West. Anyone that thinks otherwise has to do some serious rethinking.
Everybody was somehow affraid of "greater Serbia" but nobody mentions the fact that Serbs were the most populous ethnic group in former Yugoslavia. So, Croatia proclaimed it's independence, and in fear that the minority Serb populataion will endanger territorial integrity of Croatia, they (Croats), ethnically cleans Croatia of Serbs. In 1995 alone 300.000 Serbs were expelled from Croatia while the West was watching and doing nothing to stop it. At the same time Serbs were blaimed for being sole aggressor in the conflict.
Just like in the movies. You have to have good and bad guys. Serbs had to be the bad guys because Serbs, throughout history, never bowed down to the invaders. They were disobedient. Ottomans, Austro-Hungarians, Hitler, NATO, they all tried and failed to teach those "bad" Serbs a lesson. While Serbs fought the invaders, their neighbors (every single neighboring country) welcomed them with open arms and flowers.
If Serbs werent the bad guys, how else would they justify NATO bombing of Serbia, how would they not stop ethnic cleansing in Croatia, how would they justify breaking up of Yugoslavia??

30dk09

I really don't know why this documentary is titled "the secert life" when there are only approximately 10 out of 45 minutes talking about the life of R. Karadzic as Dr. Dabic. The rest is about his early life and political career (which is not very mysterious as he was a public figure), and about the war in Bosnia and the its consequences on today's youth there. Not much talk about his secret life as a fugitive.

PeSO821

@ Nele55
Nationalism is to blame above all - I might agree Croatia has started it with expelling Serbs. But massacres that Serbs did on Bosnians (Srebrenica and others...) are a REAL SHAME!
I would NOT BE PROUD about something like that no matter what the excuses!
I recommend very good documentary on subject "Death of Yugoslavia", top documentary has it, search for it... - it has real interviews with real people involved (Milosevic, Kucan, Tudzman...) You can say BBC is biased, but just listen to what politicians have to say.
Somewhere there is a very short sentence that changed my country (Slovenia) fate. (Kucan (Slovenian leader) and Milosevic (Serb leader) made a deal: we are letting Slovenia out of Yugoslavia, it is easier to have war with Croatia only. - Serbia already had plans for war. Everybody was involved.
Serbia was not just a mere victim by any measure. Bombing of NATO had its reasons, do not decide if they were good or bad before watching "Death of Yugoslavia".

Tsrnoghorats

@ Nele55

That nonsense which you speak of was a national doctrine that your academy of science and arts (SANU) conjured up in the beginning of the 1980's. It was holy to you at one point but now you naturally have to wash yourself clean of it, so you deny it's very existence. It wasn't nonsense to those who perished under it and it isn't nonsense for those who still suffer in it's aftermath.

Yes, the breakup was planned, and yes, it was in the interest of the Western World. However, among other fools, there were none greater than the Serbs. Face it, throughout Yugoslavia's existence you always complained and cried out at every little thing, everybody was always against that little self-proclaimed, heavenly people which called themselves the Serbs.

You were led astray, more so than the Ustasa factions of Franjo Tudjman. Your elite actually believed that you were going to be able to annex Bosnia&Herzegovina, Montenegro, and large parts of Croatia and fulfill the old Chetnik dream. Look at how it played out.

The thing that has always fascinated me about Serbs is your uncanny ability to always live in a illusion where you are this saintly God fearing people, who always have everybody against you. You are always ready to lay down and play the victim, if the Oscars were awarded to nationalities your trophy case would be full to the brim.

Do you actually believe that you tried to save Yugoslavia, is that what you're trying to say? The only Yugoslavia you would save would be one where you would be the masters, and where all other nations would be your lapdogs.

I realize that it is hard for you to accept reality, especially since you subscribe to the Serbian version of history. I'm not even going to go into a debate over history, that is a topic within itself, especially the 500 years of Muslim hegemony in the Balkans.

You were the instrument with which a beautiful country was brought to its knees. Have fun dismantling the last small pieces of what Tito left for you. It's going to be hard when reality hits and you realize that you actually have to start cleaning up the great mess you created. Your shameful subordination will be complete when you enter the European Union as the last of the Balkan states. Even then you will joyfully receive the scraps given to you, and somehow spin it into a Serbian victory... oh you great nation.

Nele55

My SANU, holy to me, wash myself clean??? Mr. Tsrnoghorats just because I'm a Serb (I do hail from Montenegro tho) doesn't mean I speak for whole of Serbia. I am me, Nele55, and I have my opinion. I dont know if I offended you, Im sorry if I did, didnt mean to. For a moment there I felt so guilty I wanted to give myself up to the Hague.

I would have to disagree on most of what you said Mr. Tsrnoghorats. I know some people dont like it when a Serb brings up the history of Serbia, but I think it is crucial in understanding the problem during the break up of Yugoslavia. History of Serbia is rich and plentiful and I as a Serb am proud of it. I dont know why would that bother somebody.
It's not a secret that Kingdom of Serbia, after WWI, had an option of expending its borders so far to include todays Bosnia, most of Croatia, half of Albania and of course Macedonia and Montenegro, not because Serbia wanted to occupy these territories but because these territories are inhabited by Serbs. Instead, Serbian King Aleksandar united southern Slavs and created Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which later became Yugoslavia. In my opinion, if it wasnt for the creation of Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, there would be no Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia today. Right from the start Serbs went for the bad option. Then came the break up of Yugoslavia, that same Yugoslavia that Serbs created and yes Serbs did try to save Yugoslavia not to be the masters but to save Serbian people from being divided. Some might call it "fulfilling Chetnik dream" or creating "greater Serbia" but in reality every country would do the same to protect its own people from being mistreated. Good example is Croatia. Those 300.000 Serbs that were against secession were expelled immediately. Why couldnt they(Serbs) proclaim independent Krajina? Why cant Republika Srpska be independent? Why everybody else can but Serbs? I think its unfair and it bothers me not only as a Serb but as a human.....oh great Njegos wake up!!

There's no Serbian "version" of history in Serbia Mr.Tsrnoghorats. There are Serbian "versions"of history in Montenegro, Croatia and Bosnia, in Serbia history is based on facts.

Yugoslavia in my opinion was a bad idea. It was doomed from the start. People with same roots divided into quasi nations, one language chopped up into bunch of quasi languages and worst of all innocent lives lost. All sides played its part in this mess. For you, Mr.Tsrnoghorats to say that Serbs caused all this mess is pretty brave and biased I must say, but I understand you because you are Tsrnogorats, god forbid you identify with those evil Serbs.
You know that old one "Ko o kome nego svoj o svome", hope you understand Serbian, if not I'll write it in Montenigrin.
Sorry for long post.

Nele55

Hi PeS0821,

Of course nationalism is to blame for a lot of damage done, but as much as one might hate it, it was responsable for saving whats left of Yugoslavia, on all sides.
Look, crimes happened on all sides during the conflict. All criminals should be prosecuted. I just hate to be labeled as a bad guy just because of the few. History will show who did what more precisely, its sad but thats how usually ends up.
Its funny how people say Serbs killed Bosnians in Bosnia. Werent those "Serbs" Bosnians also?? I mean Karadzic is a Bosnian as well. Why dont they say "that Bosnian killed bunch of muslims", you know. But no, when it comes to killings, Serbs did it. Im not tryin to justify any crimes, Im just making my point.

As far as Slovenia, a small population of Serbs lived there so there was no big issue with Slovenia separating. In Croatia and Bosnia there was almost 50% of Serb population who did not want to leave Yugoslavia. That was the problem. Those Serbs had bad experience in Croatia during WWII. They didnt want another Jasenovac.
Another thing, Serbia never declared war on any country. Serbia couldnt do it because it was just a republic within Yugoslavia.

I did see a lot of documentaries about Yugoslavia, I saw "Death of Yugoslavia", but my best documentary is the one I went through. I grew up in Yugoslavia, I served in Yu military, went through NATO bombing, seen it all.
And no, NATO had no business bombing a sovereign nation like Serbia whatsoever.

Tsrnoghorats

@ Nele55,

I feel honored that you address me as Mr, I really do. That's the only honorable thing about your comment. The rest was as usual propaganda about how Serbs did this and that, how without the Serbs we would have this and this etc. Thank you for proving my point about the Serbian people in general. It is true that not all Serbs are the same, one should never generalize about a nation but as far as you are concerned Sir, I can say that you belong to that vast majority of disillusioned people which I mentioned in my previous response to you.

Feel free to hold on to your truths, as I will to mine. Let history decide which ones to favor.

As it has become clear to me that there cannot be any constructive discourse between us, I don't see the need to continue on this thread.

Nele55

If the only honorable thing to you is when someone is addressing you as Mr., then no, there's no point in continuing on this thread. You called me disillusional and accused me of spreading propaganda. Such insults and negative facts about my personal character are completely irrelevant and have nothing to do with my arguments or my point of view, they rather show true character flaws on your end. Or, is this another tactic of yours of diverting attention away from a fact in dispute rather than addressing it directly. Whatever it may be, it's sad to see you choose to resort to insults right off the bat. That's kind of weak minded, I hate to say it but you leave me no choice.
Have a nice day Mr. Tsrnoghorats.

Dzo Kukrika

--

Mr. Jimbo

You are very correct, but I found this documentary to be fascinating and informative as I personally didn't know much about this messed-up situation, and the documentary was made very well also in my opinion. I just think it's mislabled on here.

Radoslav Milkov

Radovan Karadži? was tried at the The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia (Or more commonly know as ICTY).

The ICC is completely different thing. :)

Stefan Perovic

In the 1990 elections, the biggest vote-getter was Fikret Abdic. And it was Abdic who led the anti-Islamist Muslims who were allied with the Bosnian Serbs. Fikret Abdic was and is popular, arguably the most popular Muslim leader; he got the most votes in the 1990 Bosnian elections. And that was the problem because he was allied with the Bosnian Serbs. He supported the concept of Yugoslavia - a multiethnic state.Abdic and tens of thousands of followers set up the Autonomous Region of Western Bosnia, an area with a very strong partisan and anti-fascist tradition stemming from the W.W.II struggle against Nazi occupation and Croatian Ustasha terror. He fought on the Serbian side in Bosnia..........
Alija Izetbegovic, who had been released early from jail in 1988 (serving only six years of a 14 year sentence for pro-Islamic anti-state activities), visited Islamic fundamentalist states in the Middle East, returning to Bosnia-Herzegovina to found the SDA (Muslim Party of Democratic Action). His 1970 manifesto, "Islamic Declaration", advocating the spread of radical pan-Islamism-politicised Islam-throughout the world, by force if necessary, was reissued in Sarajevo at this time. His Islamic Declaration is imbued with intolerance towards Western religion, culture and economic systems. This is also the theme projected in his book, Islam between East and West, first published in the US in 1984, and in Serbo-Croat in 1988, shortly after he was released from prison in the former Yugoslavia. In his writings he states that Islam cannot co-exist with other religions in the same nation other than a short-term expediency measure. In the longer term, as and when Muslims become strong enough in any country, then they must seize power and form a truly Islamic state.This much is known: Several thousand foreign mujahedin from the wider Islamic world fought on the Bosnian Army’s side during the 1992-1995 war, and Al Qaeda was closely involved in their transport and activities there.

Mika_Bosnic_and_Bobby_Sands

This is a biased and shallow documentary which does nothing to promote peace and reconciliation, which is the road we should be taking.

War is a terrible thing that has haunted this region for generations and there has been dreadful acts done by all sides spanning back for hundreds of years, there is no good done in playing the blame/shame game. After all it takes two to tango.

I am by no means condoning war crimes or other dreadful acts, and I believe all involved should be made to answer to both the families of their victims and the people they poorly represented in good faith.

A lot of international influence has plagued this region for far too long because various world governments and powers recognized how strong the Slavic people can be once unified. Weather it is as one country or a group of independent nationalities/republics/states operating in mutual harmony. These puppet masters and agent provocateurs are the ones who should also be on trial, put to shame and wear the guilt. Not the traumatized, abused and discriminated people of the Balkans who as proud and strong people have been subjected to international war games for far too long.

Stand Strong, Stand Proud, Reconcile

Peace is justice, Make up your own mind

And beware of wolves in sheep's clothing

disqus_TMMcFI8lhu

whatever, create a documentary about Serbian victims for a change... which no one seems to mention anywhere or give justice to.

Alexander Dorin

Typical cheap antiserbian Bullshit-Propaganda. Is this Journalism?

Alexander Dorin

What about Naser Oric, Alija Izetbegovic, Haris Silajdzic etc?

B

What did I expect from Al Jazeera? If you've done any research on the war in Yugoslavia, you'd know that every side was involved in ethnic cleansing, including Croatia and most definitely Bosnia. Bosniaks (as they like to be called) killed just as many Serbs as Serbs killed Bosnians. Serbians were a scapegoat from day one. It was Slovenia and Croatia that began this war by declaring sovereignty from Yugoslavia. Bosnians wanted all the land that they shared with Serbians since 1918. Of course the Serbs were going to stand up for themselves - wouldn't you? They are ALL guilty!

Armin

Every ethnic serb croat and bosniak is really stupid and biased none of them ever admit to the wrongdoings of their people they just say that bad stuff happened to them too. come on people just be a decent human being and realize some shit just because youre the same ethnicity as bad people doesn't mean you need to support them